We Went Vegan for a Week

Newspaper staff members Miles Arambula and Elizabeth Tuckness were challenged by Ashley Honey, an experienced vegan, to follow the vegan lifestyle for a week. Here is a detailed account of their week’s journey.

The Victims

Elizabeth

“As a person with texture issues with food, I know the hardest part is going to be eating weird textured foods. Stuff like tofu and potatoes are going to be hard to eat. I may or may not just live off of smoothies, avocados, and crackers.”

Miles

“When I first thought of going vegan for a week I thought I would hate it but I had an open mind. I always thought vegans were a little extreme but I respected their thought process.”

The Rules

The new vegans will not be eating any foods with meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and other animal products. For every mistake they make, they will be punished on day seven with a spoonful of hot sauce.

The Preparation

Elizabeth

“The shopping experience was an absolute mess for me. It ended up being quite expensive with a grand total close to one-hundred dollars (partly because we went to Sprouts), and I didn’t buy enough food for myself to get through the week. The worst part was not knowing where I was going in the store while I ran around looking for vegan ingredients for food. After shopping, I meal prepped myself some full-on vegetable curry.”

Miles

“Elizabeth and Ashley talked a lot about preparing and meal prepping. On the other hand, I just kinda winged it. I ate a lot of pb&j sandwiches and salad the first couple of days until I expanded my horizons. It was fun, regardless.”

The Experience

Elizabeth

“I tried for a solid three to four days to eat vegan, but in the end, I stopped because of the want to eat with my family when they went out. After that, I have been condemned to the hot sauce punishment of a cheating vegan.“

Miles

“I learned that vegans are sneaky. “Oh, that looks vegan”… sike! It is not. Jello is not vegan. Altoids, refried beans, french fries–none are vegan! I find myself pulling out Google before I dig in. It’s a rough time. Today, I really wanted a donut, but it had icing on it. I really wanted it so I didn’t google if icing was vegan or not. We went to newspaper competition and I had a burrito bowl at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop that was bomb as heck and also vegan! That is a win in my book. Later, my family wanted chipotle so I got another burrito bowl and realized that I don’t like sofritas and also I still don’t like tofu. Tofu is a lie!“

The Reflection

Elizabeth

“In the end, I will try more vegan foods, but since I avoid eating nuts and have a texture issue with foods, I could never go full vegan again.”

Miles

“I really enjoyed the experience. In fact, I have decided that I actually want to eventually go vegan again. I’m going to start out pescatarian, then vegetarian, then vegan, so it’s a little more gradual. For me, this proved that even if it seems hard, it’s possible to go vegan even if you’re ill-prepared.”

The Punishments

For each non-vegan meal they consumed during the week, the new vegans received one strike.